Taming the Muse Prompt: Juggling
Mar. 15th, 2008 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
garnigalThanks to sunnyd_lite for talking through the prompt with me last night and helping me come up with an idea!
Title: Circus
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Juggling
Warnings: Some strong language
Rating: PG
Word Count: 814
Summary: The circus is a great place for kids. Their parents, on the other hand…
*****
The world was a wash of red, blue and yellow. Every time he opened his eyes, the light and colours assaulted him, forcing him back into the comforting blackness of unconsciousness.
*****
He wanted was to be a good dad. Before he and Elise separated, that meant showing up for the kids’ games and plays, playing catch on the weekend and helping them with their homework. Now it meant always having something exciting planned for the weekend, letting them stay up late and eat whatever they wanted and sending them home with a souvenir. Elise could bug them about homework them all she wanted and bitch that he spoiled them, but he wouldn’t be the parent they talked about in the therapy that Elise demanded they have to help them ‘cope with the changes in their lives’.
Well, he intended to be the best divorced dad around, and this weekend that meant taking the kids to the circus. The circus had everything; the excitement, the food that their mother wouldn’t let them eat and the souvenirs. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t have much fun at the show, or that he’d spend Sunday afternoon fighting off the bellyache that the bad food left behind. All that mattered was that the kids talked about their ‘great weekend with dad’ until the next time he saw them.
Elise had looked gratifyingly sour when she dropped off the kids and he’d told them about his plans for the weekend. They’d jumped around and shouted excitedly while she’d muttered something about upset stomachs. Of course, he had to deal with the kids annoying hyperactivity even after she left. He’d planned ahead though, and asked Elise to drop them off a little later than usual. He’d put them back into the car within fifteen minutes of their arrival.
They’d walked around the tents for half an hour before the show started. The kids were wide-eyed at the animals and the outlandish outfits on the performers. They’d oohed and ahhed over a stilt-walker. He checked his watch.
They stood in line for twenty minutes to get overdone hotdogs and rubbery nachos with orange sauce. The noise was incredible, between the music, the announcements to hurry to your seats and the kids screaming with excitement or exhaustion.
He’d gotten them fantastic seats, not that the kids appreciated it. At least he didn’t have them whining about not being able to see and ‘can you lift me up, Daddy?’
Finally, the lights went down and the show started. It was obviously designed for kids; the lights were too bright and too colourful, the music was too loud and too simplistic and the acts were too obvious. The magician pulled bunnies from his hat and coins from the ear of a kid four seats away. The clowns piled into and out of a tiny car and splashed each other with water. A kid on the other side of the ring got splashed and worked into the rest of the act, getting a free souvenir tee-shirt out of the deal. The fire eater lit a candle with his breath. The elephants did a lumbering dance to an obnoxious song his kids sang along with.
The kids seemed to be enthralled with the show, so he leaned back and pulled out his cell phone. It was pointless to try and make calls with the sounds from the show and the crowd, but he could at least message his friends and try to convince the woman he was seeing to stop by after the kids fell asleep.
He didn’t even notice the juggler until his cell phone was snatched from his hand.
He jumped from his seat, ready to get into it with whatever bastard took his phone. But his phone was high in the air, just one of six or seven objects the performer was juggling. His kids were clapping and thrilled with being pulled into the show. He would have let it go, would have let the show continue, knowing that he’d eventually get his phone back, but as it flew upwards again, he could see it light up with a message.
Maybe it was Shelley, telling him she’d be over at 10 in nothing but lace panties and a trench coat.
He needed that phone.
He moved forward, eyes trained on the phone. He could grab it back next time around. He’d get his phone back and impress the kids. Three, two, one - THERE!
*****
The bowling pin was much heavier than it looked. It hit him right in the temple, and he’d dropped like a rock. He hadn’t been out for very long, which was a pity. No concussion or lasting damage he could sue for. Just some traumatized kids, a pissed off ex-wife, and a black eye he’d have to explain over and over again on Monday.
Being a good dad sucked.
Title: Circus
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Juggling
Warnings: Some strong language
Rating: PG
Word Count: 814
Summary: The circus is a great place for kids. Their parents, on the other hand…
*****
The world was a wash of red, blue and yellow. Every time he opened his eyes, the light and colours assaulted him, forcing him back into the comforting blackness of unconsciousness.
*****
He wanted was to be a good dad. Before he and Elise separated, that meant showing up for the kids’ games and plays, playing catch on the weekend and helping them with their homework. Now it meant always having something exciting planned for the weekend, letting them stay up late and eat whatever they wanted and sending them home with a souvenir. Elise could bug them about homework them all she wanted and bitch that he spoiled them, but he wouldn’t be the parent they talked about in the therapy that Elise demanded they have to help them ‘cope with the changes in their lives’.
Well, he intended to be the best divorced dad around, and this weekend that meant taking the kids to the circus. The circus had everything; the excitement, the food that their mother wouldn’t let them eat and the souvenirs. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t have much fun at the show, or that he’d spend Sunday afternoon fighting off the bellyache that the bad food left behind. All that mattered was that the kids talked about their ‘great weekend with dad’ until the next time he saw them.
Elise had looked gratifyingly sour when she dropped off the kids and he’d told them about his plans for the weekend. They’d jumped around and shouted excitedly while she’d muttered something about upset stomachs. Of course, he had to deal with the kids annoying hyperactivity even after she left. He’d planned ahead though, and asked Elise to drop them off a little later than usual. He’d put them back into the car within fifteen minutes of their arrival.
They’d walked around the tents for half an hour before the show started. The kids were wide-eyed at the animals and the outlandish outfits on the performers. They’d oohed and ahhed over a stilt-walker. He checked his watch.
They stood in line for twenty minutes to get overdone hotdogs and rubbery nachos with orange sauce. The noise was incredible, between the music, the announcements to hurry to your seats and the kids screaming with excitement or exhaustion.
He’d gotten them fantastic seats, not that the kids appreciated it. At least he didn’t have them whining about not being able to see and ‘can you lift me up, Daddy?’
Finally, the lights went down and the show started. It was obviously designed for kids; the lights were too bright and too colourful, the music was too loud and too simplistic and the acts were too obvious. The magician pulled bunnies from his hat and coins from the ear of a kid four seats away. The clowns piled into and out of a tiny car and splashed each other with water. A kid on the other side of the ring got splashed and worked into the rest of the act, getting a free souvenir tee-shirt out of the deal. The fire eater lit a candle with his breath. The elephants did a lumbering dance to an obnoxious song his kids sang along with.
The kids seemed to be enthralled with the show, so he leaned back and pulled out his cell phone. It was pointless to try and make calls with the sounds from the show and the crowd, but he could at least message his friends and try to convince the woman he was seeing to stop by after the kids fell asleep.
He didn’t even notice the juggler until his cell phone was snatched from his hand.
He jumped from his seat, ready to get into it with whatever bastard took his phone. But his phone was high in the air, just one of six or seven objects the performer was juggling. His kids were clapping and thrilled with being pulled into the show. He would have let it go, would have let the show continue, knowing that he’d eventually get his phone back, but as it flew upwards again, he could see it light up with a message.
Maybe it was Shelley, telling him she’d be over at 10 in nothing but lace panties and a trench coat.
He needed that phone.
He moved forward, eyes trained on the phone. He could grab it back next time around. He’d get his phone back and impress the kids. Three, two, one - THERE!
*****
The bowling pin was much heavier than it looked. It hit him right in the temple, and he’d dropped like a rock. He hadn’t been out for very long, which was a pity. No concussion or lasting damage he could sue for. Just some traumatized kids, a pissed off ex-wife, and a black eye he’d have to explain over and over again on Monday.
Being a good dad sucked.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-16 12:54 pm (UTC)Loved the bowling ball pin.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-17 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-16 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-17 02:01 am (UTC)Glad you enjoyed it!
no subject
Date: 2008-03-17 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-18 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-19 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-19 07:53 pm (UTC)